


time lapse lifeline.

by porcelainsimplicity



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-09 23:34:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8917588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/porcelainsimplicity/pseuds/porcelainsimplicity
Summary: The waitress that had been bringing him refills on his coffee had just told him that her shift was over, and then pointed across the small room to the woman who would be taking her place, and told Cassian that the new waitress's name was Jyn.  If he's honest with himself, his life has never been the same since.





	

**Author's Note:**

> hi. i write AUs way better than i write canon stuff, so here, have one. i sincerely hope you like it, and if you do, please let me know!

During his final interview, the one that was really more just a going over the employee code of conduct than anything else because it was obvious that he'd already gotten the job, Cassian Andor was told about the twice-a-year employee functions that he was required to attend, and that he was welcome to bring along his wife. And that was when he brought up the fact that he didn't have a wife. So his soon-to-be boss laughed, made some joke about Cassian being a smart man since he was too young for the old ball-and-chain, and then told him to bring along whatever pretty girl he was fucking that week. And that was when Cassian, as tactfully as possible, brought up the fact that there was a pretty girl but he tended to treat her better than classifying her simply as the girl he was fucking that week. And Cassian had a really terrifying moment where he thought he'd just cost himself the job, and he really needed the job. It had been six months since he graduated, his savings account had less than fifty bucks in it, and it was starting to get embarrassing when Jyn paid for everything. But then his soon-to-be boss laughed once more, told Cassian that whether he said it that way or not, she was still the girl he was fucking, and signed the paperwork that was laid out on the desk in front of him. Cassian had never been more relieved, terrified, and offended at the same time in his life.

(There were much better ways to spend a Thursday night than in the twenty-four hour coffee shop just off campus, but Cassian didn't have any other choice if he wanted to graduate in May, and he really wanted to graduate in May. The clock on his laptop had just clicked over to three a.m. and he hadn't been any closer to finishing the essay he had to write for his International Development and Regional Studies class than he had been when he'd sat down at the tiny table five hours earlier. The waitress that had been bringing him refills on his coffee had just told him that her shift was over, and then pointed across the small room to the woman who would be taking her place, and told Cassian that the new waitress's name was Jyn. If he's honest with himself, his life has never been the same since.)

Cassian's first few weeks of work were pretty uneventful, even though several ladies started to hover near him when he was in the break room. The guys he worked with realized fairly quickly that Cassian could be riled up by joking about the ladies in the break room, but the women who worked closest with him all loved the fact that Cassian was charming, funny, competent, and kind. Things calmed down one Friday morning after Isabel coaxed the fact that he was in a serious relationship out of him. And then Cassian sat at his desk all afternoon and wondered how in the hell his fling with Jyn had become a serious relationship without him even realizing it. He tried to concentrate on the project in front of him, but little things like the way Jyn would mumble his name in her sleep whenever Cassian had to get up or how his mother had stopped questioning why Jyn was answering the phone when she called or the sudden realization that his dishes were always clean because Jyn must wash them kept drifting through his head, and he decided that he really didn't want that to go away any time soon. And so when Cassian got home that evening, the first thing he did was ask Jyn to move in with him. She grinned and said yes.

(There were definitely much better ways to spend a Friday night – especially ones with no homework involved – than in the twenty-four hour coffee shop just off campus, but Cassian hadn't been able to get Jyn out of his head, and that was the only place that he knew where to find her. The clock hadn't quite hit three a.m. when the door opened, and he'd glanced up from his coffee to see Jyn walk in, and somehow, she was even more beautiful than he remembered. He'd watched as Jyn pulled a textbook from her bag and started reading as she cleaned the espresso machine, and before he'd realized what he was doing, he had been standing at the counter and introducing himself and wondering if Jyn might like to have dinner sometime. And for some reason that remains inexplicable to Cassian, Jyn said yes.)

Jyn moved her stuff in one day while Cassian was at work, and when he got home, he found Jyn sound asleep on the sofa. Her glasses were half-hanging off her nose, a textbook was splayed across her lap, and her laptop was precariously close to falling off the edge of the coffee table. Cassian smiled and pushed the laptop into a safer position, plucked the glasses off Jyn's face, and bent down to kiss her just as Jyn's eyes opened. The textbook got knocked to the floor, and he found himself pulled down onto the sofa and the recipient of a really fantastically good blowjob. He felt completely boneless by the time it was over, more relaxed than he'd been in months, and for the first time he realized just how stressed out he'd been over the whole job issue, and the whole relationship issue too, and he decided Jyn must be an absolute saint to have put up with him, because there's no way he had been pleasant to be around. But when he reached out to reciprocate, or at least tried to because his arms were too lifeless to really cooperate, Jyn just shook her head and grabbed her textbook and glasses and started to read, mumbling something about having three tests the next day that she absolutely had to study for. Cassian nodded and dropped his head onto Jyn's shoulder, sighing softly. He felt Jyn brush a kiss across his forehead and thought that if this was what he would be coming home to every day, then he was a lucky, lucky man.

(There weren't any better ways to spend a night – any night – than in the twenty-four hour coffee shop just off campus, and while Cassian had known that probably should have bothered him more than it actually had, Jyn had more than made up for anything he was missing out on. Some friends found him in there one night, about three weeks after the first time he and Jyn had dinner, and the pleasant surprise that flashed through Jyn's eyes when he told them to fuck off made Cassian smile. He'd stayed until the end of Jyn's shift, they'd walked back to his apartment, and then he'd invited Jyn inside. It was afternoon by the time he'd woken up, and he'd missed all his classes, but he was tangled up in bedsheets and Jyn was still there and that moment remains one of the ten best moments of Cassian's life.)

The day had come, the first of the employee functions that he was required to attend was about to start, but Cassian could not get out of the car. Jyn was looking at him like he was absolutely insane, but he could not get out of the car. He was terrified and the magnitude of what tonight meant had hit him full force. It wasn't exactly a turning point, and it definitely wasn't the beginning of something, but it was a step forward and he was scared of taking it. He hadn't even gotten up the courage to tell his parents that Jyn had moved in, or to actually take her home so they could meet her despite the fact that it was – at the most, with heavy traffic – a ninety minute drive from his apartment, and here he was taking Jyn to a company event that had clearly stated on the invitation that his date was to be his 'spouse, partner, or significant other.' They were all dressed up, and Jyn had taken the night off from the coffee shop and still had an essay to finish when they got home, and...and he didn't even know how to introduce Jyn. He'd never put a label on what Jyn was to him before. She was just...Jyn. Who was leaning across the console and brushing the hair out of his eyes and whispering _Cassian, I love you._ Their fingers intertwined, he took a deep breath and suddenly found himself capable of getting out of the car, but only after whispering _I love you_ back.

(There weren't any better ways to spend a night – any night – than in the company of Jyn which was why Cassian had found himself sitting at the counter in the twenty-four hour coffee shop just off campus at four a.m. when his graduation was at nine, watching Jyn stack coffee cups. His parents were driving in for breakfast, and then he was being forced back home for some sort of party with the rest of the family, and he wasn't going to see Jyn again until Tuesday. Which was a problem, because he'd gotten used to seeing Jyn everyday. And that's probably when he should have realized that Jyn had become a major part of his life, but that realization hadn't actually happened until later that night when he was lying in his old bed in his old room, unable to sleep without Jyn sleeping beside him.)

Cassian spent the whole night in awe of Jyn. Of how she managed to hold her own in conversations about subjects that she hadn't studied for years like everyone else had. How she managed not to blush when a fairly drunk Isabel wouldn't shut up about how good looking Cassian was and how lucky she was to have him. How she seemed to fit into the situation so perfectly it was like she belonged there. How she didn't let go of Cassian's hand all night. How she ignored the comments that were occasionally directed at her by some of his more intoxicated male colleagues who happened to like the way she looked in her blue dress. And when they got home, and Cassian leant against the frame of the bedroom's doorway and watched Jyn change into some more comfortable clothes, he would have sworn he'd fallen in love all over again, no matter how unbelievably sappy that made him sound. So he didn't let Jyn past when she tried to head towards her laptop, and he smothered all of her protests with a kiss. He just walked them slowly towards the bed, pushed Jyn down onto it, and tried to show her everything he was feeling, because there was no way he'd ever be able to voice it. And once they started, they couldn't stop, hands gliding over sweatslick skin, tongues tangling together lazily, moans echoing in one another's ears, coaxing each other into complete and utter exhaustion. There was something different about it that night, and it wasn't until he'd just about fallen asleep that Cassian realized that that moment in the car was the first time they'd ever brought up the fact that they were in love.

(There weren't many better ways to spend a Saturday night than in the middle of a street dance, more than a little drunk, and definitely more than a little horny. They'd been dancing for hours, arms resting on each other's shoulders, hips grinding together to the beat, exchanging deep kisses. All Cassian could see was Jyn, with a silly silver headband with a shiny halo dancing above her head, and that brilliant smile of hers, and all he could think was how that smile was something he thought he could live for. They eventually left the street dance, stumbling back to his apartment, Jyn's hands drifting up to the devil's horns that rested on Cassian's head. They'd barely gotten in the door when they were all over each other, falling onto the sofa instead of heading for the bedroom. Silly headbands got him some of the best sex of his life.)

When Jyn had first brought up her unconventional family, Cassian had listened and understood. These people that Jyn called family were there for her when her biological family had not been, and so they were special and needed to be treated as such. And much as Cassian did with his parents, Jyn put off the meeting between Cassian and her family. But when Jyn mentioned that the whole family was getting together for a dinner and that Saw had told her to bring Cassian along, he'd said they should go without really thinking about it. But on the short drive to the Gerrera house, he realized that not only would he be meeting the man who raised Jyn since she was a child, but everyone else that she called family as well. Family members who were all more-than-curious to finally see who this man that had Jyn smiling so much was. And that's when he started wondering if he was ready for this. He swallowed hard when the car came to a stop and glanced over at Jyn, who looked just as nervous as he felt. This time he was the one leaning across the console, and brushing the hair out of Jyn's eyes, and whispering _I love you_. And their fingers intertwined, and Jyn took in a shaky breath, and then Cassian pressed their lips together softly, and when he felt Jyn melt against him, he knew he'd done the right thing. Jyn pulled back and glanced out the window, laughing nervously and blushing, and that's when Cassian noticed the man with long, flowing hair on the front porch, a bright smile on his face. And that's when they decided to get out of the car and go inside.

(There were definitely better ways to spend a night – any night – than sitting in the twenty-four hour coffee shop just off campus, waiting for Jyn to show up for her shift and getting more worried as it got later and later. If there was anything Cassian had learned about Jyn up till that point, it was that she was meticulous when it came to being on time. And then his phone had rung, and it was a number he didn't recognize, and _at least the car got the worst of it_. He'd ran to his car before he hung up the phone, he'd broken a few traffic laws on the way there, and then he had to wait until the plastercast had set but the moment they finished with her, Jyn had been in his arms and it was a long time before either of them let go.)

The day of Jyn's graduation turned out to be a slight disaster, when all was said and done. It hadn't started out that way, the sunlight drifting in through the curtains giving their bedroom just the right sort of mood, and Jyn had looked so unbelievably happy and accomplished that Cassian had a difficult time keeping his hands off of her, and they'd lost track of time while they were getting lost in one another. So they had missed breakfast with Baze and Chirrut, which almost led to an embarrassing situation after Baze had insisted on coming over to the apartment to make sure they were awake, and they had just finished getting each other off in the shower when the knock at the door came. And then after the commencement ceremony, when practically everyone that Jyn had ever met had gathered at Saw's house for a party, they had to continually dodge questions from various people on when they planned on getting married and if they'd thought about having children, which were two subjects they really didn't want to discuss with anyone other than each other. They somehow got separated and Cassian was found by Bodhi, who handed him a beer and guided him over to a corner of the yard where he could watch Jyn as she circulated and talked to everyone. It took Jyn over an hour to find him again, and by the time she got to him, all Jyn could do was plead with her eyes for Cassian to get her out of there. With Bodhi's help, they managed to get into the house and they locked themselves in Jyn's old bedroom, but by then they were too tired to do anything but collapse onto the bed and fall fast asleep.

(There were definitely better ways to spend the day than sitting in the twenty-four hour coffee shop just off campus, like in a office doing work that he had just spent the past four years learning how to complete, and he had started to get more and more concerned about the fact that no one wanted to give him a job. Jyn was working a rare day shift and had brought Cassian over a cup of coffee, but he wasn't sure that he had enough money to actually pay for it, so he hadn't touched it. Jyn had sighed heavily, and then pulled Cassian outside and across the street to the newsstand. He'd watched as Jyn bought a newspaper and shoved it into his hands before going back to work. There ended up being one potential job in the classifieds, and somehow he got himself an interview for it.)

Isabel had given him a hug when he said he was leaving and said she was so happy for him, but he didn't quite understand why. And then he'd taken the elevator downstairs and walked out the front door to find a taxi parked in front of the building, Jyn leaning against its side, and Cassian found that it was still strange to see her dressed for office work instead of the coffee shop. He was greeted with a brilliant smile and then pulled into the backseat, blinking in confusion when Jyn told the driver to head for the airport. Cassian started to ask what was going on but then Jyn was kissing him, deep and strong, stealing the words from his lips and leaving him breathless. A pair of plane tickets were dropped into his lap as Jyn reached up to loosen his tie, and she kissed Cassian again as she completely undid the Windsor knot. Jyn plucked the phone out of his pocket and turned it off before putting it back, and then started telling him all about her plans for the weekend. When he'd gotten over the shock of the surprise of a trip to Las Vegas, Jyn's voice dropped and Cassian could barely make it out when she suggested making it legal while they were there. Cassian's eyes widened as the sentence rattled around in his head, and when it settled down into his mind, he pulled Jyn closer and kissed her again, grinning against her lips when he heard the driver mumble something unpleasant from the front seat. He nodded as Jyn pulled back, and then there was a flash of that brilliant smile, and the words were just a whisper, but Cassian heard them as clear as anything. _Cassian, I love you._


End file.
